It doesn’t take long for the pilot episode of the much-anticipated new FX show Atlanta—the brainchild of comedian/rapper Donald Glover, which has its premiere tonight—to give the viewer a glimpse at what you might call your typical lover’s quarrel. Glover’s character, Earn, the show’s shit-out-of-luck titular hero, is trailing behind his on-again-off-again love, Van (played by newcomer Zazie Beetz), through their tiny Atlanta home. The two bicker over lack of ambition and shared responsibilities in child-rearing: Voices rise; tempers flare; there is the expected fallout from a passion-fueled fight that you might see on many television network dramas. But when Van enters into the apartment’s bathroom, unfurling her Afro from tightly wound twists while still throwing verbal jabs, it’s a moment unlike we’ve ever seen on TV before. A seemingly small gesture, Beetz’s character is in fact displaying African-American beauty rituals that often go unseen in prime time entertainment—and is in turn laying the groundwork for a television heroine with some seriously scene-stealing style.

“That resonated with a lot of people! From the screenings, that’s always the comment that comes back to me: ‘I loved when she takes off her scarf and she has the knots!’ ” Beetz explained over the phone last week. “I know for so many women, that’s a reality. That was actually Donald’s idea, and I thought that was very cool.” That hair scarf is just part and parcel of Van's modern appeal: Neatly breaking up Atlanta’s male-centered dynamic between Glover’s Earn, his would-be rap star cousin “Paper Boi,” and eccentric sidekick Darius, Van injects a bolt of much-needed feminine energy with a no-bullshit attitude underlined by a penchant for flower child–style sundresses and colorful rompers. It’s an honest and timely portrayal that speaks toward modern female style and, yet, feels very much Van's. “I was wondering how they were going to approach her and I was actually expecting something more generic—like jeans and T-shirts,” says Beetz, “but she has her own little thing going on.” It’s an adventurous but practical style that evolves throughout the first season as Van does, says Beetz, and the same could be said of the actress’s own red carpet style.

Beetz works with pieces plucked straight from her own closet, like H&M jumpsuits and Topshop frocks, and is even known to, yes, wrap scarves around her hair (“I’m a huge scarf person! I wrap my hair and scarves into dresses!”), and is even a bit hesitant when it comes to working with stylists and makeup artists. “I’m still trying to find the vocabulary of ‘This is what I need,’ without feeling like I’m encroaching on their work,” Beetz says. Instead, she’s finding pleasure in discovering exactly what works for her. “I have to say, I’m in a little bit of a flux with my style,” she says, citing a return to a more playful attitude. “I’ve definitely always been someone who likes to communicate through their clothing.”